The audience appreciates the exposure of the 'social parade' through Genet's characters - Interview with Zoltán Balázs / 2017
How would you summarize the essence of Maladype Theatre, which you founded nearly 20 years ago?
Perhaps in the fact that our independence is not only a matter of our operational structure, but also of our spirit and our ideas about theatre. Over the years, Maladype has remained a company capable of constantly reinventing itself, viewing change as a natural part of the theatre-making process. We seek out the unexpected possibilities offered by theatrical and non-theatrical spaces, unconventional acting solutions, and immediate audience reactions that are free from traditional theatrical expectations and classical forms of behaviour. Maladype's unique theatrical language and thinking is based primarily on constant experimenting, intensive presence, and continuous communication with the audience. That is why I consider it important to develop the actors' analytical and synthesizing abilities, the natural tone of their expression, and the continuous conditioning of creative acting based on improvisation, which reacts immediately and vividly to events occurring in the shared space with the audience. We look for areas and situations in theatre where the cause-and-effect systems of our everyday lives no longer function, where new relationships are represented by new "structures," and where skill, chance, and the change of rules can all shape the game and the possibilities for the players. I am convinced that the excitement of the game can be heightened to the extreme when chance and the attention of two people come together. The framework for this game is provided by various playful logical, strategic, cooperative, and communicative tasks, which create new and unusual situations for both the team and the individual.
As an actor and director, you have won numerous domestic and international awards. What do you attribute this sustained attention from the profession and the public to?
In the many different theatre workshops I have been involved in, I have learnt to embrace diversity of thought and the idea that the only way to validate different creative ideas is through preparation, consistency, and a commitment to renewal. Ultimately, of course, one must find and assemble oneself—as Attila József says—from one's own "pieces of God," which can even result in different creative eras. I feel inspired when I can surprise myself as well as the audience with something new; I honour them with unpredictability and variety. In my upcoming performances, I expect knowledgeable civilian and professional audiences who do not base their opinions on quick impulses, but who, as appreciative and discerning viewers, are able to interpret symbols, allegories, and metaphors. The stimulus they experience during the performance does not remain merely their own experience, but becomes transferable to others.
The company has recently staged Jean Genet's play The Balcony, directed by Sándor Zsótér, who has worked with Maladype several times. How did the audience receive this rarely performed work?
They were very open to the unique visions of the author and the director, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! The audience appreciated the way Genet's characters exposed the "social parade." This world-famous play by Genet, who had a turbulent life and a deep knowledge of theatre, ruthlessly exposes the personality-distorting effects of social structures imposed by external forces an "the eroticism of power" through a process of purification. The clients of the "house of illusions" called The Grand Balcony are participants and witnesses of strictly confidential role-playing rituals, who, surrounded by authentic sets, costumes, and extras, can imagine themselves in roles that are unattainable for them in reality. Sándor Zsótér's 2016 production of Richard III is currently enjoying great success at the Maladype Base in Mikszáth Square, and I am confident that our newly premiered production of The Balcony will achieve similar success.
Pesti Műsor, 2017
Translated by Lena Megyeri
Perhaps in the fact that our independence is not only a matter of our operational structure, but also of our spirit and our ideas about theatre. Over the years, Maladype has remained a company capable of constantly reinventing itself, viewing change as a natural part of the theatre-making process. We seek out the unexpected possibilities offered by theatrical and non-theatrical spaces, unconventional acting solutions, and immediate audience reactions that are free from traditional theatrical expectations and classical forms of behaviour. Maladype's unique theatrical language and thinking is based primarily on constant experimenting, intensive presence, and continuous communication with the audience. That is why I consider it important to develop the actors' analytical and synthesizing abilities, the natural tone of their expression, and the continuous conditioning of creative acting based on improvisation, which reacts immediately and vividly to events occurring in the shared space with the audience. We look for areas and situations in theatre where the cause-and-effect systems of our everyday lives no longer function, where new relationships are represented by new "structures," and where skill, chance, and the change of rules can all shape the game and the possibilities for the players. I am convinced that the excitement of the game can be heightened to the extreme when chance and the attention of two people come together. The framework for this game is provided by various playful logical, strategic, cooperative, and communicative tasks, which create new and unusual situations for both the team and the individual.
As an actor and director, you have won numerous domestic and international awards. What do you attribute this sustained attention from the profession and the public to?
In the many different theatre workshops I have been involved in, I have learnt to embrace diversity of thought and the idea that the only way to validate different creative ideas is through preparation, consistency, and a commitment to renewal. Ultimately, of course, one must find and assemble oneself—as Attila József says—from one's own "pieces of God," which can even result in different creative eras. I feel inspired when I can surprise myself as well as the audience with something new; I honour them with unpredictability and variety. In my upcoming performances, I expect knowledgeable civilian and professional audiences who do not base their opinions on quick impulses, but who, as appreciative and discerning viewers, are able to interpret symbols, allegories, and metaphors. The stimulus they experience during the performance does not remain merely their own experience, but becomes transferable to others.
The company has recently staged Jean Genet's play The Balcony, directed by Sándor Zsótér, who has worked with Maladype several times. How did the audience receive this rarely performed work?
They were very open to the unique visions of the author and the director, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! The audience appreciated the way Genet's characters exposed the "social parade." This world-famous play by Genet, who had a turbulent life and a deep knowledge of theatre, ruthlessly exposes the personality-distorting effects of social structures imposed by external forces an "the eroticism of power" through a process of purification. The clients of the "house of illusions" called The Grand Balcony are participants and witnesses of strictly confidential role-playing rituals, who, surrounded by authentic sets, costumes, and extras, can imagine themselves in roles that are unattainable for them in reality. Sándor Zsótér's 2016 production of Richard III is currently enjoying great success at the Maladype Base in Mikszáth Square, and I am confident that our newly premiered production of The Balcony will achieve similar success.
Pesti Műsor, 2017
Translated by Lena Megyeri